Planning to visit Grand Canyon National Park this weekend? Seek cooler temperatures on the North Rim/Kurt Repanshek
Planning to visit Grand Canyon National Park over the Fourth of July weekend? You'll need to be patient...and hydrated.
Visitation to the park has soared this year, already up 20 percent over the same period of 2014, according to park personnel. Not surprisingly, all these people trying to get into the park can create traffic jams at entrance stations, particularly those on the South Rim.
Park officials say waiting times at entrance stations can last at least 30 minutes between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m, especially on weekends. "Once in the park, visitors can also expect parking lots, especially at Grand Canyon Visitor Center, to start reaching capacity by 10 am.," they add.
Those waiting lines could be hot, too, as the National Weather Service expects temperatures on the South Rim to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit through the holiday weekend.
Typically, July is the busiest month of the year at Grand Canyon and with Independence Day falling on Saturday this year, “we are expecting record-shattering numbers Thursday through Monday that weekend,” said Revenue and Fee Business Manager Marlon Avantyr.
To reduce some of the wait time at the South Rim Entrance Station, and for stress-free parking, the park encourages visitors to leave their vehicles in Tusayan and use the park and ride shuttle. The Tusayan Route provides shuttle service between the gateway community of Tusayan and the national park. Leaving every 20 minutes from 8 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., the bus makes four stops in Tusayan before dropping passengers off at Grand Canyon Visitor Center, where visitors can then access trails, viewpoints, and in-park shuttle bus routes. Visitors riding the Tusayan Route must present a valid park entrance pass when boarding the bus and can purchase passes at six locations in Tusayan.
Once in the park, visitors riding the shuttle bus on the Hermits Rest (Red) Route will also experience long waits from late morning until sunset, waiting in line for two or three buses. Concessions Program Analyst Pamela Edwards suggests utilizing the Kaibab Rim (Orange) Route in the morning, driving along scenic Desert View Drive any time of the day, and walking or cycling along the rim-based trails system to leave some of the crowds behind, allowing for a more personal connection with Grand Canyon.
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Utah's state parks, national forests and forest campgrounds, national parks, and other public and private recreation areas throughout the state are experiencing record visitation, too. Low gas prices? An indicator that the country might actually be recovering from the Bush Recession? Maybe people heeding the First Lady's urgings to get out and move? Nothing worth watching on TV or the movie theaters? Too many supercharged energy drinks?
Whatever it is, it's a mixed blessing in many ways -- especially if you happen to be looking for a place to park in Zion or Arches or along the Mirror Lake Highway, room to launch or navigate your boat at Pineview Reservoir or almost any kind of fun in a whole bunch of other great places.
People who must try to manage all these suddenly overwhelmed facilities have their hands full. And we can be sure that to some people, at least, NOTHING they try to do will be right.
"Bush Recession"
LOL
Can't make a post without making something political out of it can you Lee - despite how foolish it may be.
Hey Lee, when is the Obama recovery going to start? Parks are getting more visitors because no one can afford more expensive vacation destinations.
Really, folks, let's dismiss the political rhetoric. Perhaps traffic to national parks is up -- and Grand Canyon isn't the only one seeing more visitors -- because they're great places to visit.
It appears from the GRCA website that you have to pay $15 per person to take the shuttle, but only $30 per vehicle to drive into the park, so families/groups of 3 or more adults save money by driving in and using parking lots within the park. I'd rather see the price incentive turned around, or at least a $30 "group pass" for a vehicle of folks parking at Tusayan. The $60 annual GRCA pass works for the passholder & immediate family on the shuttle; the $80 annual pass is good for up to 4 adults (+ children under 16). So there is already some process for a pass working for multiple riders on the shuttle.
Do any contrarians here have good counter-arguments?